Lure of the homeland fades for Palestinian refugees
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC World News
by Lina Sinjab - August 24, 2010 - 12:00am


The right of return for Palestinian refugees is a major sticking point in the upcoming US-sponsored Middle East peace talks, but some younger Palestinians - having never laid eyes on their ancestral homeland - say they do not actually want to go back. As a third-generation Palestinian growing up in Syria, Bissan al-Sharif says she feels rooted in Damascus. "I don't know if I would leave everything and go and live [in my ancestral village] because I don't know the place," says Ms Sharif.


Courts grant Palestinians married to Israelis right to stay
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Dan Izenberg - August 25, 2010 - 12:00am


Two courts in separate cases rejected the state's refusal to allow Palestinians to continue living in Israel with their spouses and participate in the gradual procedure for obtaining permanent residential status. In the first case, on Tuesday, Deputy Supreme Court President Eliezer Rivlin rejected an appeal by the state to hold another hearing before an expanded court, after a panel of three Supreme Court justices had decided to allow Balal Daka to continue living in the country.


Discrimination from within and without
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Bassem Eid - (Opinion) August 24, 2010 - 12:00am


Nathan Brown, a professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University, wrote a timely report last month entitled “Are the Palestinians Building A State?” His paper discussed the Palestinian Authority under Salam Fayyad and his claims to be building the institutional apparatus necessary for a Palestinian state. The report acknowledged that he is “unmistakably doing so in an authoritarian context.”


US official: We want full peace deal in 1 year
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Roni Sofer - August 24, 2010 - 12:00am


A partial peace deal between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, even if achieved within a year, will not satisfy Washington, a US official said Tuesday. The American official told reporters in Jerusalem that the upcoming peace summit in Washington aims to strike a full peace agreement between the parties. The official rejected the possibility of "only" a partial or interim peace deal within the timeframe set for the peace talks.


Likud hawks convene against freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Atilla Somfalvi - August 24, 2010 - 12:00am


With the Washington peace summit a mere week away, Likud members who are right off the party's political line are gearing for several protests meant to ensure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knows his party will not abide the continuous suspension of settlement activity. Members of the Likud's "right wing" have decided to hold a protest rally while Netanyahu is in Washington. Several senior Likud and Knesset members are expected to take part in it.


U.S. warns Israel, Palestinians: Refrain from harming peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - August 24, 2010 - 12:00am


The Obama administration expects Israel to refrain from making any move that could potentially damage peace talks with the Palestinians once they begin, United States Middle East envoy George Mitchell has told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Mitchell conveyed the same message to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. In recent days, Abbas has made clear that if Israel renews building in West Bank settlements, after a 10-month freeze on settlement construction on September 27, the Palestinian Authority will abandon the direct peace talks.


Iraq pullout makes Israeli-Palestinian peace crucial for U.S.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - August 25, 2010 - 12:00am


Despite the fact that they occurred almost simultaneously, any connection between the withdrawal of American combat troops from Iraq and Washington's invitation of the leaders of Jordan and Egypt to a summit inaugurating direct Israel-Palestinian talks might appear to be entirely coincidental.


In response to vague talks, Jewish groups deliver vague message
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Ron Kampeas - August 23, 2010 - 12:00am


Two weeks before their launch, the promised renewal of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks has already engendered a first: a joint statement of welcome by mainstream U.S. Jewish and Palestinian groups. "We congratulate the Obama administration on succeeding in getting direct negotiations back on track," said a statement issued jointly on Friday by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and the American Task Force on Palestine. "Both parties must now show courage, flexibility and persistence in order to move towards a negotiated end of conflict agreement."


August 2011
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Aluf Benn - (Opinion) August 25, 2010 - 12:00am


The immediate result of the announced resumption of direct Israeli-Palestinian talks was the setting of a new target date on the Middle Eastern calendar: August 2011. That is when talks on all permanent-status issues, as well as Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's project of building a Palestinian state-in-the-making, are both due to conclude.


Top U.S. negotiators in Israel to soothe tensions ahead of Washington peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - August 25, 2010 - 12:00am


Two top U.S. officials were scheduled to arrive in Israel Wednesday to begin preliminary negotiations ahead of next week's diplomatic summit in Washington, the first direct Israeli-Palestinian talks in 20 months. The two officials are Daniel Shapiro, a top National Security Council staffer handling Israel and neighboring countries, and David Hale, deputy to special Mideast envoy George Mitchell. Each official will meet separately with Isaac Molho - an adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and head of the Israeli negotiating team - and chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat.



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